by Gerri Hill
“I know.” She didn’t close them, however. She lifted her head slightly. It was too dark to see, of course, but she was still able to find Corey’s mouth. It was a soft, gentle kiss, nothing more. This wasn’t the time or place for more, but their kiss was enough to ignite a flame inside her, making her wish she’d not kissed her in the first place. It only served to whet her appetite for more.
And they couldn’t have more. Not yet.
She groaned in frustration as she pulled away, again resting her head against Corey’s shoulder as she pulled her closer again.
“I know,” Corey said quietly. “God…I know.”
Dana smiled in the darkness. Yes, they were connected. Corey apparently could read her mind. She finally closed her eyes then, a smile still lingering on her lips as sleep claimed her.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Sutter stood at the window, staring through the half-opened blinds, seeing nothing really, just watching as lights flickered in the darkness. He took a deep breath, then finally turned, finding Duncan standing at his desk.
“At ease,” he murmured, motioning to the chair.
For once, Duncan seemed to be at a loss for words. He sat quietly, his hands fidgeting with a file he was holding.
“Do you believe her?” Sutter asked. Duncan opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. Sutter was aware of his nervousness and he waved an impatient hand at him. “Well?”
“Do you really want my opinion, sir, or do you want—”
He leaned forward, staring directly at Duncan. “We don’t have time for games, Lieutenant. I’m well aware of what has transpired in the last ten days. I’m well aware of what your stance on this has been since the beginning. What I want to know is…do you believe her?”
Duncan nodded. “Yes, sir. I do.”
“You actually believe that a spaceship landed? That it made it all the way through space without being detected by satellite? That it invaded our airspace without being detected by radar?” He leaned back. “And I’m not talking about the goddamn four-second blip either. Her story is…it’s too farfetched to be true. You’re an intelligent man, Duncan. Surely you can see that.”
“It’s too farfetched to be fabricated, sir.”
Sutter slammed his fist on his desk. “I told her she was a fucking lunatic. And you know what she did? She called Brinkley directly,” he said loudly. “Did you know that?”
Duncan hesitated only a second. “No, sir.”
“He’s flying in tonight,” he said with a shake of his head. “I’ve got two platoons unaccounted for, not to mention the squad that we sent in at the beginning. I’m ready to send a whole goddamn battalion in to find them.” He paused. “But you know what he’s got his mind set on? A goddamn long-range missile strike, all because Captain Conaway thinks it’s the best form of action.” He slammed his fist on his desk again. “I’m a goddamn colonel! He took Major Godfrey away from me and now has you handling his duties. You! A goddamn lieutenant!” Sutter felt his face turn red, felt his heart as it beat loudly in his chest. “And now…a goddamn captain is apparently giving orders around here!”
Duncan stared at him obediently. “Yes, sir.”
Sutter took a deep breath, trying to get his anger under control before he had a stroke. His hand was shaking as he reached for his water bottle.
“Jesus Christ, Duncan…never in my life would I have believed it would come to this. There’ve been UFO sightings since the dawn of time. There’s always an explanation, Duncan. Always.”
“Over the years, Air Force pilots have reported seeing—”
“Air Force,” he said disgustedly. “What the hell do they know?” He stood up and walked to the window, staring out for a second, then closed the blinds on the night. “Regardless. Whether she’s right or wrong, this whole incident will get buried so deep, so fast, it’ll make your head spin.”
“But why, sir? We’ve been searching for life on other planets forever,” Duncan said.
Sutter turned to him. “Yeah. Searching, Duncan. Never finding. If it gets out to the general public that a spaceship landed here—without our knowledge—and that the…the extraterrestrials or whatever the hell you want to call them, are killing and eating people,” he said and laughed humorlessly. “And taking over their bodies like a puppet, she said. God, I can’t believe Conaway really believes that. Anyway, can’t you see the mass hysteria? It would be total madness, Duncan.”
“So to protect the masses, we keep them in the dark,” Duncan said quietly. “For their own good, of course.”
Sutter could hear the disdain in his voice. “That’s exactly right, son. For their own good.” He returned to his desk and sat down again. “Everything about this operation will be classified, Duncan, whether they find little green men or not. Homeland will take over. Or maybe the clowns from the FBI.” He snorted. “Hell, goddamn NSA might want to take over.” He narrowed his eyes at Duncan. “What I’m trying to say is, if there’s even a hint of a leak, it will be dealt with swiftly.”
“Yes, sir.”
He leaned back in his chair and looked around his office. “And I imagine I’ll be relieved of my duties. In hindsight, sending out a Black Hawk wasn’t the best decision I ever made.”
“If I may, sir…had you not, we wouldn’t have known what was going on. The power outage, the cell phone towers…that would have all been left to the local authorities.”
“Yeah. And I wouldn’t have two platoons missing either, Lieutenant.”
“Of course, sir.”
Sutter gave him a fake smile. “Well, Duncan, maybe after they clean house here, you’ll get a cushy assignment like Major Godfrey did,” he said sarcastically. “Out in a desert hellhole.”
“Yes, sir.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
Corey fumbled with her watch, illuminating the face. It was three twenty. Dana was still curled at her side, and even though she knew she should get up, should wake Dana…she allowed herself a few moments to savor the closeness, the contact of another person. It had been so long since she’d felt this…this connection with someone. Even though she knew they needed to go, needed to hit the trail, she couldn’t deny herself these few moments.
She’d only known Dana a little more than a week, yet it felt like a lifetime. How could that be? How could she feel like she’d known her forever? How could she feel like Dana was a part of her…that’d she’d always been a part of her?
“I’m awake,” Dana whispered as she tightened her hold. “By the way, you make a wonderful pillow.”
Corey smiled in the darkness. “No one’s ever said that to me before.”
“Maybe you haven’t slept with the right person before,” Dana murmured.
Her smile faltered only slightly. Dana was right, of course. She’d been so focused on her career, she rarely gave her personal life any thought. She’d had lovers, sure. Most, however, were forgotten the minute she’d left their beds. She never missed having someone in her life, someone permanent. She had her team. That had been enough. Now that they were gone, the void seemed large, much too large to try to fill.
“What are you thinking about?” Dana whispered.
Corey sighed. “Just…just thinking.”
“I see. None of my business, huh?” Dana pulled away from her and rolled to her back. “I didn’t think I’d sleep, but I guess I did.” She turned her head slightly. “Did you?”
“Uh-huh,” she said. She sat up, bending her head back and stretching her neck. “I don’t think I woke up once.”
“What time is it?”
Corey again touched her watch, the hands glowing in the dark. “Almost three thirty.”
Dana sat up too and rubbed her face with both hands. “You know, the only things that should be out and about at this hour are vampires.”
Corey laughed. “Vampires?”
“You know what I mean.”
Corey found the flashlight and turned it on, watching as Dana shielded her eyes from th
e light. “Sorry.”
“No, no. Light is good. Now if you could produce some coffee, it’d be perfect.”
Corey got out of the tent and took the light with her. Lucky was right outside the door, his tail wagging when he saw her.
“Good boy,” she said quietly as she patted his head. She turned back to Dana. “Fifteen minutes. I’m going to get the horses ready.”
“Okay. I’ll take the tent down.”
* * *
Dana yawned as she followed behind Corey, still longing for a cup of coffee. Corey had said her eyes would adjust to the darkness and they had. Still, riding horses at three thirty in the morning was just not normal. Of course, it was her parents they were going after. She should be thankful that Corey was taking her, regardless of the ungodly hour and regardless that they hadn’t taken time for coffee. Corey had mentioned last night that they were going back in without authorization and against orders. She knew nothing of military protocol, but she assumed Corey would get into some sort of trouble. Corey didn’t seem to be concerned about it, though.
“You okay back there? Still awake?”
“I’m still awake,” she said. Then, “You’re not going to get, you know, court-martialed or something, are you?”
Corey laughed. “Colonial Sutter would probably try to charge me with treason if he could. But no, considering the circumstances and everything that’s happened, I don’t think my reprimand will be severe,” she said.
“But you’re going to get into trouble?”
“Disobeying an order does have consequences,” Corey said. “It won’t be my first time. Probably not my last.”
“I see,” Dana said, although she wasn’t sure if she really understood. No one in her family had ever been in the military. In fact, she didn’t know a single person who had been. “Well, thank you for doing it, despite knowing you’ll get into trouble. Because if you’d said no, I would have attempted to go back alone.”
“I know. And I couldn’t let you do that.”
She nodded in the darkness, knowing Corey would not have let her go out on her own. She only hoped the outcome was a favorable one. She wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if something…well, if something bad happened.
“I hope we don’t regret this,” she said quietly, voicing her concerns.
“I think Butch was right…this route we’re taking should be safe. With luck, we should make it there by noon or a little after,” Corey said.
“It seems like we’re going slow.”
“Yeah. Once it’s daylight, we’ll pick up the pace.”
Dana looked to the sky, thinking it would be another hour before dawn approached. Of course, the days were getting longer. Sunrise seemed to come earlier and earlier. And last night, there was still a little light in the sky even as the clock ticked close to nine. She remembered the long summer days of her childhood when she and Butch could still be outside playing well after supper. Late June, early July, the days had seemed to last forever.
She just wished this one would hurry up and get here…because she was ready for it to be over with.
Chapter Fifty
Corey shifted in the saddle, her back sore. She guessed it was nine, maybe ten already. Her watch had stopped working shortly after they’d entered the zone. Once the sun had come up, they’d made much better time and had only stopped once to take a break and stretch their legs. Lucky, on the other hand, had plopped down to rest, his tongue hanging out as he panted. He hadn’t even bothered to get in the creek.
They were following Cat Creek and it was much smaller than the creek they’d followed back and forth the previous week. Cat Creek was little more than a trickle in places, then widening in spots as it flowed across a bed of rocks. Cat Creek followed a small canyon which was rocky and arid, nothing like the lush valley that Paradox Creek flowed through.
“You ever been out this way?” she asked, tossing a glance over at Dana, who was riding beside her.
Dana shook her head. “When we were kids, we explored the creek downstream, past our farms. We never went beyond the county road.”
“That’s where we’ll get out?”
“We’ll get out at the bridge,” Dana said. “We could follow the creek a little farther, but there’s a steep part—a drop-off—nothing but rocks.”
“That’s where Butch was saying the horses couldn’t go,” she said.
“Yeah. But if we stay above the creek, we can still see it. It crosses under the county road then. That’s the road we’ll take to my parents’ place.”
“We started out so damn early, I thought we might be there by now,” she said. “Once we get to the bridge, how far do you think?”
“Maybe an hour,” Dana said. “Probably a little longer. It’s not an easy ride. Lots of rocks. There’s not really a trail.” Dana stared at her. “You’re ready for this to be over with too, huh?”
Corey nodded. “It’s been quiet. Brinkley acted like they were going to send in a whole damn battalion. Maybe he changed his mind.”
“You expected to hear gunfire?”
“Yeah.”
What she really hoped to hear was a missile strike up on Baker’s Ridge. But if that was going to be the plan, they would have done it at daybreak. Unless it was still being discussed, that is.
“How far are we from Baker’s Ridge?” she asked Dana.
“Oh, a long way,” Dana said. “It’s northwest of Jean’s house. Once we get out at the bridge, we’ll be about fifteen, twenty miles south of Paradox. That’s Highway 90. Our farm is still several miles east of there.”
“Highway 90 is where they had the so-called rock slide,” she said, wondering if the road was still closed. “So you can’t see the ridge from here?”
“No.”
“Yet when this thing crash-landed up there, you heard it?”
“Didn’t hear a crash, no. It felt like an earthquake,” Dana said. “It didn’t last long, ten seconds at most.” She pointed up ahead. “There’s the bridge.”
It was still a couple of hundred yards away, but the sight of it made Corey feel like they were getting close. She didn’t realize how tense she’d been, and she rolled her shoulders a couple of times, trying to relax.
But as they neared the bridge, just when she thought that the quiet morning would signal an uneventful day, they heard gunfire. They stopped their horses, looking around them.
“How close?” Dana asked quietly.
“Hard to tell. The sound echoes here in the canyon,” she said, her voice quiet too. “Two shots.”
“I’m not an expert on guns, but that sounded like a normal rifle.”
Corey nodded. “Yeah. Hunting rifle, probably.”
“I don’t want to think the worst, but maybe…maybe one of them made it down this far. Maybe—”
“It could be anything. Let’s just keep our eyes open,” she said as she gave her horse a gentle kick.
They found an easy path out of the canyon and up to the road. Corey hurried to the other side, not taking the time to look around. They were out in the open, and she wanted to get off the road. Not that there was much cover anyway. A few small trees here and there but mostly scrub brush scattered among the rocks. The creek was down to their right—they followed along from above. It didn’t take long for them to reach the drop-off, and she paused to watch as the water tumbled over boulders and down to the bottom some fifty feet below.
They skirted the rocks and climbed a little higher, finding more level ground. Up ahead, she could see where the creek flattened again, its rapid pace over the rocks changing to a slow, even crawl, making barely a ripple in the surface.
“This is where Butch and I came up,” Dana said.
Corey saw what appeared to be game trail, and Lucky took the lead, his nose to the ground, tail wagging. They followed him back down to the creek, where he apparently lost interest in the scent he was following. He plunged into the water, his face tunneling under it, then he shook himself and began to drink
. The water barely reached his belly.
“Is the creek this shallow all the way?”
“No. Down past our place, it’s decent size. Enough to trout fish,” Dana said. “And swim in.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Water was cold as hell no matter what time of year,” Dana said with a laugh. “But when you’re kids, you don’t seem to notice, I guess. Butch and I spent a lot of time there.”
Corey nodded. “I regret not having that.”
Dana frowned. “Having what?”
“Childhood memories like that,” she explained. “We moved around so much, it’s really all a blur.”
“Your childhood and adult life both,” Dana said. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever had the chance to put down roots.”
She shrugged. “My choice. I guess I never thought I would regret it,” she said truthfully. Actually, ever since she and Jean had talked, she realized just how much she did regret some of her choices in life. Like never taking the time to find love. She sighed, still fearing it was too late for her now. She looked over at Dana, about to tell her that very thing when she heard a sound off in the distance that she knew well.
She glanced quickly to the sky, scanning it, hearing the swoosh of air as the missile shot through it.
“What is it?”
Before she could comment, the explosion shook the ground and her horse danced sideways upon the rocks. She pulled up on the reins, trying to steady him.
“What the hell was that?” Dana asked urgently.
“Missile strike,” she said. “But the explosion, the ground shaking…not just from the missile. It must have made a direct hit.” She turned her horse around. “Stay here,” she said as she retraced their steps, guiding the stallion back the way they’d come. Once at the top, she stood up tall in the saddle, shielding her eyes against the sun. She finally found what she was looking for. Smoke.
She glanced down at Dana. “I’m guessing it’s Baker’s Ridge,” she called. “At least I hope so. Got smoke in the air. Looks a hell of a long way off.”
She turned her horse again, going back down the trail to the creek. Dana’s eyes searched hers.